what are some reasons for higher poverty rates in the south?

Question

first answer gets marked as best

Answer 1

The south has high income inequality combined with a low median income which means there is a lot of poverty. It was always primarily agricultural and remained underdeveloped until after the 1960's. Two explanations are commonly given. One is that until air conditioning became available it was too hot to work productively. The other is that the institutionalize racism that existed in the south lowered productivity and made companies unwilling to locate there. I think that both of these are important plus that all rural regions lose their most ambitious young people to high opportunity cities, which for generations meant moving north..

Answer 2

Well, the south traditionally is a system based on agricultural output. When technology increases and less input is needed to create more output, that creates unemployment. So therefore, when a system based on a specific good or service (agriculture in this instance) is faced with improvements that require less workers to produce more goods, then the unemployment increases. My theory is that once the south shifts to a more service based economy as most of the United States have done, the poverty level will decrease. So right now, I would say that the southern states that normally relied on agricultural output will go through a change that makes their economy more service based, as the rest of the economy is, then the poverty rates will begin to fall. Once this happens, I believe that poverty rates will decrease as the southern states start to produce more workers that are more able to adapt to our service economy.

Answer 3

Large companies with higher paying jobs don't always locate in the south. Education systems are not good so many don't get the skills they need to get better jobs. If the entire city is poor, they can't collect enough tax money to improve conditions.

Answer 4

illegal immigrants?